


Love Cakes and Blossoms

by tangerineprince



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: "I love guys" - Kim Mingyu, Cake Shop AU, College AU, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Tbh idk I haven’t planned it out, flower shop au, hahaha please enjoy, hanseungkwan, kwaninoni, pledis family, this was impromptu, verkwan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-01-20 05:57:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12426423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tangerineprince/pseuds/tangerineprince
Summary: "Is there a Boo Seungkwan here? There’s a love cake for him.”Vernon received an order to prank Seungkwan with a fake love confession on Valentine's.





	1. A Confession Prank

_“Is there a Boo Seungkwan here? There’s a love cake for him.”_

.

.

.

Recently, among the college/university kids, _love cake_ has become a popular trend. Love cake is a cake that you can customize and design it yourself and confess to the person you like.

“Mingyu hyung,” Hansol started. “Why are you so uncreative to call this cake a _love cake_? It’s so…lame. So boring.”

Mingyu frowned and his lips formed to a pout. “You’re being too arrogant just because you can speak English very well! For us Koreans who only know few words in English, it sounds really cool, alright.”

He snapped his fingers and pointed at the love cake. “Just you wait, Hansol, this cake is going to be hit!”

And it did. Mingyu’s words did come true.

As soon as the cake was put out on display, it would be sold out quickly, so they had to turn it up a notch and even made a website to allow their customers to preorder them online.

Mingyu, who was in his last year of college, found it really tiring but he’s dedicated to his job and made sure that every customer is satisfied with the result.

And that’s how he had to hire Soonyoung and Hansol to help him out. He made super nice nametags for them and had to follow them for about a week or two till they agreed to help him out.

“Here you go…A _Hoshi_ nametag and a _Vernon_ nametag!” Mingyu excitedly handed them their name tags. He then showed him his website and how many preorders were on the list. “Guys, you will love this job!”

Hoshi and Vernon simply exchanged looks and smiled a little to satisfy Mingyu. Vernon could not simply understand what is so fun about working in a cake shop (other than the freebies) but he decided to comply because he needs to save up money to rent a new apartment.

Vernon took a look at the list. There were over a hundred of preorders and in fact, if you order it this month, you will only be getting the cake next month.

_Why is this cake so popular?_

Mingyu proudly boasted, “That’s because of my amazing baking skills you see, not to mention, I design it so well that I won’t be surprised if someone decides to hire for fashion designing.”

Vernon laughed sarcastically. “Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, hyung.” He was pretty sure that the main reason why the cake was so popular in their college was because everyone loves Mingyu. Every single person out there.

Sales went pretty good for weeks. Vernon is happy with how things are going smoothly. He has nothing much to do, customers just keeps coming in and his salary is pretty good.

A few times he got love cakes from a group of girls. He would just smile and say thank you and bring it back home for dinner.

Everything was going on smoothly till he decided to meddle in a prank.

“Hey, hey,” A guy wearing a cap written _OBEY_ and chains around his neck called him. Vernon laughed inwardly at the stereotypical way the lanky boy was dressed up to be ‘thug’. “We wanna make an order y’know. Can ya make it that it reaches this person on Valentine’s Day?”

Vernon looks down on the form filled by the customer. A name that was awfully familiar was written next to the phrase that says _‘to whom is this addressed to:’_

Boo Seungkwan.

“Seungkwan as in the vocalist from Performing Arts?” Vernon narrowed his eyes at them. “This is a prank, isn’t it?”

The guy and the group of boys behind him laughed in such a way that Vernon thought a herd of elephants were wailing. He snorted, “Yep, that faggot.”

Vernon flinched at his words and handed the form back to the customer. “We don’t support pranks, sorry.”

His customer slammed his fist to the counter. Everyone in the shop turned to look at them. Even Hoshi who was outside handing out flyers came into the shop and asked what was wrong.

At this moment, he wished it was Hoshi instead that was in charge of taking customers’ orders and putting them into the computer, but Hoshi claimed that he wasn’t tech savvy which is why the job was handed to Vernon instead.

Vernon didn’t want to create a chaos, so he decided to just leave it be.

“Nothing hyung.” Vernon gritted his teeth. “Just a little misunderstanding.”

Hoshi gave him a carefully appraising eye before going out again. Vernon took a deep breath and let out a deep sigh.

“Alright, write down your order. What do you want to write on the confession card?”

The guy nodded approvingly and looked at his gang. They discussed for a few minutes before writing down their ‘confession’.

After the annoying gang left the shop, Vernon took the form and read what they wrote.

 _“Seungkwan oppa_ _♡_ _,  
  Please meet me at the Naksan Park tonight at ten past ten.  
  I’ll be waiting_ _♡_ _~ Saranghae oppa_ _♡_ _~”_

Vernon gagged at the words written down. Why would anyone write such a cringe-worthy letter? Pretty sure, seungkwan won’t buy this.

Vernon slowly forgot about the chaos earlier in the shop as he was busy filling in the valentine orders into the computer. Mingyu came back from his group study and sat down at the stool beside vernon to take a look at his orders.

“Wow, 116 orders already?” Mingyu stared at Vernon in disbelief. “I think half of them is because I hired Hoshi and you and people are coming in just to look at you both.”

Vernon laughed. “I think so too.” He winked at Mingyu who swat his shoulder. “Hyung, do you want to take a look at the orders we got today?”

“Sure,” Mingyu answered. “Wah, I know many of these people. Woah, there are tons of cakes addressed to _me_? Why me?”

Vernon rolled his eyes. “I counted. There are 46 orders just for you.”

Mingyu gaped at him and looked back at the list. “Why would you give cake to someone who owns a cake shop? Whoa, there are tons for you and Hoshi as well, why are our custom—Seungkwannie?”

A ghastly whiteness overspread Vernon’s cheeks at Seungkwan’s name. He glances at Mingyu whose eyebrows were raised so high and a wide smile plastered on his face.

“Uh, you know him?” Vernon asked. He unconsciously picked at his fingernails, anxious at his answer.

Mingyu turned around to look at him. “Yep, we are like, best friends actually. Hoshi knows him well too.”

Just great.

“I’m really happy actually,” Mingyu commented further. Looking at Seungkwan’s name fondly, he chuckled, “My boy is getting a confession on Valentine’s. I hope that he'll stay and be happy with this person!"

An inexplicable uneasiness filled Vernon. His friend’s best friend is going to get hurt. He wanted to confess what happened earlier that day but looking at Mingyu’s face who looked so happy, he hesitated.

He shouldn’t have.

“Mingyu-ah, isn’t time to close already?”

Vernon heave out a deep breath he didn’t realise he was holding in when Hoshi spoke up. Mingyu stood up and told him to shut down the computer and take home the leftovers.

Vernon placed all the leftovers in different boxes and brought it outside. Mingyu checked around before locking up the shop.

“Hyung, guess what?” Mingyu beamed at Hoshi who was waving at someone across the street. It was too dark to see who it was. Realising Hoshi isn’t paying any attention to him, Mingyu poked Hoshi until he turned and replied, “Yeah, what is it?”

“Seungkwan is gonna get confessed to!”

Once again, Vernon felt uneasy and straightened his back at the mention of Seungkwan’s name.

Hoshi widened his eyes and gaped at him. “Are you for real? Woah, wait, can we tell him? He’s coming to us right now.”

Vernon looked across the street to see a silhoutte walking towards them and waving at them. He had never felt so uncomfortable in his life before. As much as he was tempted to tell them what actually happened, he didn’t know how to put it in words.

Mingyu whispered, “No, don’t tell him yet. It’s a surprise during Valentine’s!” Hoshi nodded with an _o_ formed by his mouth.

Seungkwan interrupted them and gave both Mingyu and Hoshi a hug. Mingyu hugged him tightly before whining, “It’s been a while, I missed you so much. Why are you here though?”

Seungkwan tiptoed to reach Mingyu’s height and ruffled his hair. “Hahaha, Mingyu hyung, I missed you too. I work here actually.”

“He just started working today actually,” Hoshi commented. “I recommended him Wonwoo’s herb garden and that’s how he started working there.”

Seungkwan scrunched up his nose at the word _herb_. “It’s no longer a herb garden actually, I’m renovating that place and making it a flower shop as well. And most of all, I’m changing that shop’s name, I mean, who names a shop _Wonwoo’s herbs and stuffs_.”

Hoshi and Mingyu nodded in agreement. “I’m actually surprised he has customers, but that’s probably just his fans that swoon over his looks.”

“And the meanie shippers,” Hoshi added.

Mingyu facepalmed himself while Vernon looked so lost at the topic at hand. Seungkwan must have realised his discomfort since he asked, “So, who’s this cute guy?”

“Uh, are you talking about me?” Vernon asked, and he felt like it was a stupid question when he saw Mingyu rolling his eyes at him.

“He’s Hansol Vernon Chwe,” Mingyu answered instead.

“Straight?”

“Yep.”

Seungkwan sighed dramatically. “There goes my chance. Don’t worry about me hitting you, by the way. I don’t hit on straights.”

Vernon tilted his head, still lost and slow on the uptake. Hoshi rolled his eyes this time, “He’s gay, Vernon. That’s what he’s getting at.”

From the way the group of guys were talking about seungkwan earlier that day, it suddenly made sense to Vernon. What a petty reason to bully someone.

An awkward silence passed which seungkwan thankfully decided to break. “I guess it’s time to introduce myself properly, Mr. Hansol.”

Seungkwan reached out his hand for a shake and met Vernon’s uneasy eyes.

“Nice to meet ya, the name’s Boo Seungkwan a.k.a the gayest man in

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write. There are so many things I want to express here but my writing skills are so limited. :((
> 
> I've read way too many coffee shop aus, which is why I used a different theme. Also, I love flowers so I decided to make this a flower shop AU, but let's see how it goes because so far, not even a single flower is mentioned.


	2. Pledis Residency

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE CONCEPT PHOTOS AND TRACKLIST KILLED ME

“No, he’s not here today,” Seungkwan lied for the umpteenth time.

Girls were swarming in to the shop and they were surprised to see him, a new employee, and asked for Wonwoo instead. He ended up making two tallies, one tally for the number of times girls came in and asked for Wonwoo and bought something, and the other tally was for the number of times the girls came in but didn’t buy anything.

So far, there were 67 who asked for Wonwoo and only two of them shopped.

“Hyung, I told you that they’re coming here for your looks, not for the herbs,” Seungkwan commented, as he turned the sign to CLOSED since it was lunch break. “I came to work on a Saturday for nothing, you better pay me well.”

Wonwoo silently placed the book he was reading down and looked at him. “I realised. I don’t mind girls coming in and all as long as they appreciate my work. I’m really awkward with them but they are really nice people.”

“Despite your cold demeanour, you’re such a softie.” Seungkwan handed him his notepad. “I wrote down a bunch of names to rename the shop, you can select what you like.”

 _“Booblossoms?”_ Wonwoo read out, raising his eyebrows.

“What? It’s cute.”

Wonwoo sighed, placing the notepad on the desk. “I’ll deal with this later, for now, I’m really hungry, let’s go grab lunch.”

“I’m on a diet.”

“My treat.”

Seungkwan immediately grabbed his coat. “Let’s go.”

* * *

“Mingyu hyuuung,” Seungkwan cooed. “I want cake.”

A few customers looked at Seungkwan who suddenly entered the bakery with a cute pout, and stared at him in judgement. Vernon didn’t know how to tell that boy with cute pout that Mingyu won’t be back till five.

“You’re done with work, already?” Vernon asked. Seungkwan nodded and plopped on the stool in front of the counter. “Uh, so you want cake? Which one?”

“Hmm, there’s a lot to choose,” He answered. Vernon felt a moment of relief for successfully deviating the topic. “I’m craving for something lowkey minty right now, what do you recommend?”

 “We have a chocolate mint cake with mint buttercream frosting.” Vernon pointed at the cake displayed at the left side of the counter. “It’s what Mingyu hyung’s been experimenting on lately, do you want a piece?”

“Two, actually,” He replied. “Oh wait, where’s Mingyu hyung?”

Vernon’s smile immediately faltered and hesitated before answering, “Um, he won’t be back till five.”

 “Why do you sound so nervous? It’s like you’ve one something guilty and I’m the police interrogating you.” Seungkwan laughed at him in amusement. “Relax, all I wished for was a free cake but nevermind.”

“I can treat,” Vernon replied, before adding, “I mean, only if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t see why I would mind but I don’t see why you would treat me either, we just met a few days ago.” Seungkwan rested his chin against his palm. “But sure, I won’t say no to free food.”

Vernon wasn’t sure why he was feeling incredibly nervous either. Was it the love cake prank that’s bothering him? But it’s not like he knew the boy well anyway, right? It’s just a harmless prank….right?

He silently went and took out three pieces of cake instead and served them to Seungkwan. Seungkwan furrowed his eyebrows, still confused on why Vernon is treating him and that too, even more than what he asked for.

Seungkwan smiled, feeling really happy. He took a bite and squealed internally. Every bite he took, he would squeal and moan in pleasure.

“I was wondering who was making such inappropriate noises in the bakery, turns out it’s you Seungkwan.” Hoshi plopped on the seat beside Seungkwan. “Ah, can I try some? It must taste really good for you to make be so loud about it.”

“IT’S DELICIOUS!” Seungkwan beamed. “And no, I don’t want to share, unless…” He looked at Vernon expectantly. “…Vernon says so.”

“Why even? Since when did Vernon became your best friend?”

“Since just now. When he gave me this cake for free.”

 “Why would you do that? I know he pleads and begs a lot, but don’t give in to him.” Hoshi gaped at Vernon. “Anyways, that’s not the point right now… can I try from Seungkwan’s plate then?”

Vernon looked back and forth between Hoshi’s expectant look and Seungkwan’s puppy look. He sighed, why did he even gave the cake for free, and three pieces at that. He took another plate and took the fourth piece from the cake at the display and served Hoshi.

“Problem solved,” Vernon muttered under his breath.

“I’m cutting that out of your pay, Hansol.” Mingyu entered the café. He hung his coat on the coat hanger, before sitting down on the stool next to Hoshi. “Why would you even treat them?”

“Mingyu hyung, Hoshi bullied him to.”

All three of them looked at Seungkwan who was nonchalantly eating his cake. Hoshi gaped at him and shook his head in disapproval.

“Don’t cut his pay,” Seungkwan said, pouting at Mingyu. “He will quit if you cut his pay.”

“No, he won’t,” Mingyu replied, slinging his arm around Seungkwan’s neck. “He needs to find a better apartment.”

Vernon decided to speak up then. “Actually, my lease is ending this week. So, I have to find an apartment real soon, can I have my salary early this month?”

There was an awkward silence before Mingyu said, fidgeting nervously, “I kinda’ used our savings earlier for something important, how about staying with me for a while instead?”

“Vernonie, I’m actually searching for a roommate, how about staying with me instead? After this week, you can move in my apartment?”

Vernon looked back and forth Mingyu and Seungkwan. Seungkwan realised his confusion and uneasiness so he decided to elaborate further about sharing his apartment.

“The apartment is quite luxurious and spacious. We have two bedrooms, so technically you won’t be my roommate, you can just use the other room. When I go back home today, you can follow me and take a look at the apartment.”

Vernon’s eyes widened. “Two bedrooms? That sounds so expensive, how much is the price?”

“I’m really good friends with the owner, so he offered me with just 1.5 Million Won.”

“1.5 Million Won?!” Hoshi yelled, voicing out Vernon’s thoughts. “What the fuck? Even an average single bedroom apartment takes about 2.8 Million Won.”

“Seungcheol hyung is kind and really rich,” Mingyu answered. “He’s the shareholder of many hotels in Korea, with Jeonghan hyung and Joshua hyung.”

Hoshi and Vernon simply gaped at them. _Where do I find rich and kind friends like that_ , Vernon thought.

“Wah, seungkwan really has many good friends,” Hoshi commented. He looked at vernon and asked, “Do you know that all the girls in our college knows about him? They really like him, in fact, he sometimes goes to the girls’ toilet just to hang out and gossip with them.”

Vernon shook his head and smiled, amused at the information.

Seungkwan placed his spoon on his plate and took a tissue to wipe his mouth. “I’m heading home, right now, so how about you tag along?”

Mingyu looked at the clock. There was still an hour left till closing time but he left it be. “Go ahead,” Mingyu said, motioning his hands as if to shoo him away.

Seungkwan hopped down from the stool and gave Mingyu a peck on his cheek, which made Mingyu smile wide happily. “Thank you, hyung.”

Vernon took off his apron, while staring at the two of them. He didn’t show any reaction and simply smiled at the kiss but he felt weird and curious at seungkwan’s gesture.

They left the bakery and took a bus to his apartment. On the way, the bus was filled to the brim with people so he and Seungkwan was squished together.

Seungkwan, who’s shorter than vernon, ended up smashing his face against Vernon’s chest. Seungkwan immediately apologised but Vernon simply laughed it off. Instead, Vernon wrapped his right arm around Seungkwan’s neck.

“It’s okay, just stay close to me,” Vernon whispered to Seungkwan’s ear.

It’s the first time they were standing really close to each other and Vernon could feel the heat radiating from seungkwan. He could smell the sweet fragrance of lemongrass from seungkwan. Unconsciously, vernon sniffed seungkwan’s hair, which gives off a sugary scent like vanilla cupcakes and white chocolate.

Seungkwan buried his face in Vernon’s chest and looked down the entire ride. His face was completely red and that’s the last thing he would want to show to Vernon.

* * *

Vernon gaped at the site of the apartment. Even just by looking from the outside, he knew the apartment was amazing. They walked into the reception and Vernon noticed how _Pledis Residency_ was written in huge, cursive letters.

Seungkwan got into the lift and pressed the seventeenth floor. Vernon stared at the number of buttons the lift had. It goes up till the thirtieth floor. There’s emergency buttons and separate buttons for the basement and recreation area.

When they reached the seventeenth floor, vernon’s mouth opened wider as the lift opened. The corridors were brightly lit by chandeliers, it was really fancy.

Seungkwan pressed the password at a door numbered 17-02. As soon as they entered, for the first time in his life, vernon realised his mouth can open even wider.

“Take off your shoes here and here’s your sandals to use inside the house,” Seungkwan motioned to the white, fluffy sandals with a panda face beside his feet. Seungkwan wore his fluffy brown sandals with a bear face before looking back at vernon who’s now staring at the kitchen.

Slapping vernon’s arm, he gained back vernon’s attention. “Wear those sandals and I’ll show you your room after I lock the front door.”

Vernon finally wore his sandals and walked into the living room. He sat down on the sofa and stared at the LED TV in front of him. He took a candy that was placed on the bowl beside the sofa. Looking at the wide space around him, all he could think was

_Damn, I feel rich._

Seungkwan came back from locking the door. He waved at vernon to grab his attention and finally vernon noticed and followed him to a bedroom.

The bedroom’s amazing. “Wow,” Vernon finally spoke up. He stared at the huge bedroom, neat and clean. He liked everything about the room.

“So, do you like it?”

“Yeah.”

Seungkwan clearly wasn’t satisfied with a simple _yeah_ , so he nudged vernon to elaborate further. Vernon chuckled and started off with, “I like everything about the room. First of all, the bed is queen-sized, I’m going to sleep so well—”

“The size of the bed doesn’t decide how well you sleep,” Seungkwan cuts him off. Vernon realised seungkwan looked a little sad while saying so.

Vernon continued, “I like the colour of the walls too. It looks clear and I really like the bluish purple tinge of—”

“It’s called serenity,” Seungkwan cuts him off again.

Vernon stared at seungkwan, unable to continue further, so seungkwan decided to give him a tour of the place instead. Going around the house, vernon seemed to realise something was missing.

“Where’s the restroom?” Vernon asked.

Seungkwan went back to Vernon’s bedroom and showed a door. He opened the door to show him a spacious bathroom. At that point, vernon felt pure bliss. There’s a bathub, shower and even a heater to control the temperature. 

“I love this,” Vernon commented.

“Wait till you see this,” Seungkwan said, walking towards another door, opposite to the bathroom door. He opened the door and walked to another room….another _bed_ room vernon realised.

Maybe it’s the pink, rosy walls that gave it away but vernon knew it at once, it’s seungkwan’s bedroom.

“The bathroom is connected to both bedrooms?” Vernon asked the obvious.

“Yep,” Seungkwan answered. He closed the bathroom door and then jumped onto his bed. “So, just remember to lock the other door as well when you’re using the bathroom. Do you mind?”

“Of course not,” Vernon replied. He sat down next to seungkwan and hugged him. “I’m happy, I’m really happy.”

Seungkwan clearly didn’t expect the hug, so he awkwardly patted Vernon’s back and chuckled.

It felt surreal. He got an apartment in the last minute and it’s a grand one where he doesn’t even need to pay a million won. He couldn’t ask for more.

“So, you’re moving in next week then, that’s great!” Seungkwan chirped happily. He took out his phone and vernon realised his wallpaper is a picture of another guy—a really pretty guy—doing finger hearts. Seungkwan motioned vernon to scoot closer and took a selca with SNOW.

“I’m just telling the guys that you agreed to move in,” Seungkwan explained as he sent the selca to a groupchat named Big Dicks™. Seungkwan stood up and walked out to the living room. “Come, let’s eat dinner together, Vernonie.”

Vernon followed Seungkwan, still surprised and really happy that there’s more good news today. It’s been a while since he had a good homemade food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm rushing. Is it too fast paced?
> 
> The booblossoms name was actually an idea suggested by my ‘elder sister’ citruseungkwan for the name of the flower shop. I find it so cute so I added it here.
> 
> Check out citruseungkwan’s work called Our Twenties, the best verkwan fic you’ll ever come across.


	3. Karaoke Bar and Clubs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to cry, it's gonna be the start of a new era in less than 24 hours.
> 
> And we still don't know what's the concept about.

Vernon is confused.

His teacher just told him to join at least one extracurricular club for him to gain more credit but he wouldn’t be able to manage his study time, work and clubs together.

Well, he’s not that desperate for money anymore since he can afford the new place he’s sharing with seungkwan at a reasonably cheap price but he can’t just ditch Mingyu just like that and he kinda started to like his job at the bakery.

“It’s fine,” Mingyu told him. “You would need good credits to have higher chances of getting a good job. It’s kind of compulsory to be in a club. You’re in your second year now, you should hurry up and sign up for a club.”

Now, his workload is cut down and after negotiating with Soonyoung, he scheduled his shifts to a reasonable time. He doesn’t even need to come every day now.

The problem at hand right now choosing a club. What does he want? There are thousands of clubs in university and of different types from sports to arts to community services, there’s even a drinking club.

It’s important to choose the correct club and make your résumé looks more attractive. He has done sports in high school, heck he was the captain of the basketball team for years. It would look boring if he continued to do sports in university, right? Or will that portray his consistency?

“What are you thinking so hard about? You’re gonna get wrinkles soon if you keep frowning like that.”

Vernon snapped back to reality and stared at Seungkwan in front of him. “Erm,” Vernon staggered. “It’s nothing.”

Seungkwan raised his eyebrows, clearly not buying it. “Feel free to talk to me about anything anytime. I’m going to take a shower now, it’s been a long day.”

Vernon gave him a smile, before going back to working on his assignment. He’s been staring at his paper for two hours and he hasn’t even reached half a page. His mind wandered back to the decision of choosing a club.

Searching up his university page, he looked through the list of the clubs available. Turns out that you can even find out the identity of the members in a club. He started searching up random names of his classmates from his lectures, just curious about what kind of club would they be in. After debating for a minute, he searched up seungkwan’s name.

“Vernon dear, you were worried about _this_?”

A sweet, fresh smell of cherry plums and lemongrass hit his nose, before turning to look at seungkwan who just finished showering. His hair was damp and there were still traces of water around his neck. Seungkwan placed his towel over his shoulder after drying his hair.

“Uh,” Vernon started. He wasn’t exactly sure how to explain the situation. Clearly, from seungkwan’s perspective, it must’ve looked like vernon was stalking him—which is definitely not a good thing. “I was just curious. I don’t usually do this, I don’t stalk anyone I swear!”

“I saw you stalking drake’s instagram last night but anyway, stop panicking.” Seungkwan sat down beside him and grabbed a glass, filling it with water. “Mingyu told me that you’re really lost about picking a club, so you must’ve been curious about what club I’m in, right?”

Vernon looked at him dumbfounded. “Does Mingyu tell you everything?”

“Pretty much.”

“Wow,” Vernon laughed. “Well, yeah. I’m not sure what club to pick, nothing has caught my eye so far. What clubs are you in?”

“I wanted to join like seven but it couldn’t fit my schedule so I’m just in calligraphy, basketball, and orchestra and band music. I really wanted to join the volleyball club as well but it clashes with band music and I don’t want to give up on that.”

Vernon stared at him, appalled again. “ _Four?_ You’re in four freaking clubs, wow, how do you even manage that or do art stream students just have a lot of free time?”

Seungkwan narrowed his eyes at him and flicked his forehead. “First of all, get that stereotype away from your head. Art students have it really hard, okay. The only easy part if I compare your course with mine is that I don’t have to do math.”

Vernon rubbed his forehead; his cheeks a little pink, ashamed that he jumped to conclusions. “Sorry,” He apologized immediately. “I was just really shocked. I’m in awe, how do you manage? Isn’t it tiring?”

“Yeah, it’s tiring. It can get really tiring especially when you have events coming up but I love to do them so why not? Why so sudden, by the way? It’s like half the semester already.”

Vernon actually wondered about that too, but he wasn’t exactly sure. “Dunno, but I was told that I need to pick clubs soon. Deadline by next week.”

“That’s sad,” Seungkwan commented, before drinking his water. “Oh, speaking of clubs, band music is having a drinking night tomorrow at the karaoke and we’re told to bring in more companions. Why don’t you join in? You might even end up interested.”

There isn’t really a reason to say no for that offer. He’s free tomorrow night and his assignments would be done by then. He has never been interested in band music but might as well just go and have fun meeting new people. Besides, Seungkwan is going to be with him, so what could go wrong?

* * *

Vernon learnt a great lesson that night. Karaoke-ing with a band music club is a whole new level. God knows how they were not kicked out for being so loud.

He felt kind of awkward actually, everyone knew each other and chattering about in their own worlds. Seungkwan is busy choosing songs and singing along to the lyrics with this tall guy named Seokmin.

“Vernon?”

Turning around, he saw a familiar face and immediately smiled. “Minghao?”

“What are you doing here?” They both asked at the same time. After a few seconds of silence, they burst out laughing. Vernon no longer felt awkward at the party.

“I’m here with my friend, Junhui,” Minghao explained, pointing to a tall, handsome face wearing a bowl on his head. “He invited me saying _the more the merrier_.”

“Wow,” Vernon bubbled. “He’s part of the band music? “

“Yeah, he plays piano, heck he’s so good at it, beethoven gotta be jealous,” Minghao joked, showing a toothy grin. “Okay, so why are _you_ here? Never knew you were so into music.”

Vernon laughed. “I like music, but I’m not so enthusiastic about it.” He pointed to the boy singing with a tambourine in his hand across the room. “I’m roommates with that guy over there belting out those high notes, Seungkwan.”

“Oh, Seungkwan?” Minghao’s smile grew bigger. “I know him. Jun’s quite close with him, Seungkwan teaches him how to write hangul from time to time and Jun mentiones seungkwan a lot. He’s so fun to talk to, you’ve a great roommate!”

He’s been roommates with Seungkwan for only a week and he has only knew seungkwan for a few weeks but for some reason, vernon felt really proud. He straightened his back and scratched the nape of his neck, feeling a little flattered.

“Yeah,” Vernon agreed. “He’s really nice and fun to talk to. After moving into his apartment, I get to eat good food, so I’m pretty happy about it.”

“Ya two know each other?”

Vernon and Minghao looked up to see seungkwan whose cheeks are flushed. Seungkwan struggled to sit down on the floor, clearly drunk, and grabbed another cup of soju.

“We went to the same highschool, Vernon was my junior,” Minghao explained. “We were also in the same basketball team so—”

“Verrrrrnoniee plays basketball?” Seungkwan interrupted, looking expectantly at vernon. “We should have a match sometime, or join our basketball club?”

“Uh,” Vernon wasn’t sure what to answer. “Sure, I guess? I mean, I’m not that interested in joining a basketball club. I kinda’ grew out of it.”

Minghao commented. “He’s a really good player though. He used to be the captain, Seungkwan. He has even brought the team to the Nationals.”

Seungkwan formed an _o_ with his mouth and kept that face for a while. Seeing that there’s no further reaction from seungkwan, he decided to ask minghao something that perked his curiosity.

“Why are you here though? I thought you went to university abroad?”

“Yeah, I did,” Minghao answered, taking a packet of potato chip and opening it. “It’s a twinning program. I don’t want to do a twinning program at first, especially back to korea, since I’ve lived here already. I want more cultural exposure.”

“Can’t you just negotiate and choose afterward?”

“Well, that’s what I did,” Minghao replied, handing over the packet to Vernon. “I was told about a few universities here are really prestigious and would offer it to me on a dance scholarship. So, it’s kinda’ like I’m in a vacation now. Moving about places in korea and I don’t even need to pay for it.”

Vernon took a potato chip and bit it. “Wow, that’s so lucky.” Minghao nodded.

They were going to continue their conversation when suddenly Seungkwan stood up and straddled Vernon. Vernon was surprised but he didn’t mind, he was pretty sure Seungkwan is dead drunk right now.

“I think you should take him home,” A familiar voice spoke up.

He looked to his right to see Hoshi standing, with a glass of beer in his hand. “Hoshi hyung? When did you even arrive? Why are you here?”

Seokmin hugged Hoshi from the behind. “You know Vernon, Soonyoung hyung?”

“Yeah,” Hoshi answered, ruffling seokmin’s hair without turning back. His gaze was still kept on seungkwan who’s now looking at minghao and smiling nonstop. “You should take him home, Vernon. Just a little while ago he was talking about how he wanted to wear a skirt and walk all over seoul wearing a skirt.”

“He says this all the time, it makes me wonder if he lowkey wants to be a girl,” Minghao commented. Everyone nodded in agreement which amused Vernon.

“No way,” Seungkwan argued, lightly slapping Minghao’s thighs. “I like dicks.”

“We’re not talking about liking dicks, Seungkwan. It’s about having them,” Seokmin explained in between his laughters.

“I like dicks _and_ I like having a dick, now scram.”

Despite the topic at hand is about liking or having genitals, Vernon found it adorable how seungkwan was puffing out his chest and saying what he likes with pride. Seungkwan had this cute annoyed pout directed towards others.

“Okay, Vernon,” Hoshi interrupted the donger conversation. “You should take him home. His mouth is even looser than usual.”

“Vernon is leaving already?” Jun asked. “Sing a song first, you didn’t sing anything.”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Seungkwan suddenly stood up, hitting Vernon right in the nose. It didn’t hurt much so Vernon didn’t mention anything about it. Seungkwan pulled Vernon across the room and gave him the tablet. “Here, chose a song.”

Now, here’s the thing. Vernon loves to sing, he really do. But he sucks at it. A lot.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jun said, smiling softly at him. “We won’t judge you, it’s just a party, not a competition.”

Vernon swore he saw Minghao smirking when he was told to sing. Minghao knows his singing skills. With the way Seungkwan and Seokmin was singing earlier, his confidence level just pummelled.

Seungkwan squeezed Vernon’s fingers. “It’s alright, we’re just here to have fun. I’ll join you.”

And that’s how they started singing So Chanwee’s Tears.

Vernon felt nervous at first, his voice shaky when he started but when Seungkwan joined in, singing with him in acapella, it felt like many weights were taken off him that he decided to go completely crazy.

As in really crazy.

From jumping around from sofa to sofa to twirling about like a ballerina, Vernon disgustingly dabbed way too many times that night. Minghao joining in wasn’t helping either.

When he finished, he looked around, no one was judging him. No one thought he was bad or anything. He was just letting go and having fun. Everyone was smiling and laughing, not at him but with him.

It felt, for the lack of better words, nice.

“Okay, but Vernon, you should never sing again,” A girl with bob hair spoke up. “Singing isn’t your thing.”

“Shannon, that’s so mean!” Seokmin chimed in, flicking her forehead.

Okay, she’s kinda’ right, Vernon thought. Can’t argue with that.

“That’s okay,” Seungkwan said, holding Vernon hands up with his. “I’m going to train him well just you wait and see. Besides, he’s a rapper.”

That piqued everyone’s interest. “A rapper?” Hoshi asked. “Wow, I didn’t know that Vernon raps.”

“Me too,” Vernon commented, looking at Seungkwan curiously. Sure, he listened to rap songs but he’s never been trained, he just memorise lyrics and say it in a rhythm.

Jun looked at him and gave him a face. “Wait what, you didn’t know that you rap? Seungkwan, what exactly is happening?”

“I heard him rapping many times at home,” Seungkwan replied. He was looking at the mirror and playing with his fringe. “He does it so cool and his English makes it seem even cooler. You should hear him rapping, it’s really cool. By the way, I’m so good looking today. Like, even more than usual.”

“It’s because you’re drunk,” Hoshi replied, earning a smack from Seungkwan. Swatting away Seungkwan’s hand, Hoshi turned to Vernon. “You should join the hip hop club then? Mingyu is in it, as well. There are many members in it, you should try it out.”

Vernon nodded. “Yeah, I’ll think about it then.” He looked at Seungkwan, who was reaching for another cup of soju. “Uh, I should take seungkwan home before he becomes worse.”

And so, they said their goodbyes and finally left the party. Seungkwan was oddly quiet during the walk back home, Vernon was a bit worried if it was because he was going to puke anytime soon so he kept a safe distance from him.

All of a sudden, Seungkwan started running.

First of all, Seungkwan never runs. Seungkwan could be really late for his class, but he never runs. He takes his own time and walks leisurely. So seeing Seungkwan running was not only unexpected but scared Vernon quite a bit.

Thank god, it was past midnight, there was barely any cars on the road, or Vernon would’ve been witnessing an accident. He quickly caught up with Seungkwan.

Finally, Seungkwan stopped and plopped down to the ground, spreading his legs. Vernon took a few seconds to catch his breath before sitting down beside seungkwan who was staring at the starry night.

“What was that about?”

“I don’t know,” Seungkwan replied. “Just felt like running, an adrenaline rush.”

“Okay,” Vernon said, he laid down beside seungkwan and stared at his features.

From the run earlier or probably because of alcohol, he has a rosy tinge spread across his cheeks to his ears. The moonlight highlighted his features even more, it looked like seungkwan was glowing. Since the night was cold, vernon could clearly see the huff of air seungkwan exhales. Even after drinking alcohol and running about, Seungkwan still smelled sweet.

His thoughts were interrupted when seungkwan suddenly turned to him and Vernon was awfully aware of Seungkwan’s close proximity. Their noses were almost touching. Seungkwan was oblivious to this, he just kept staring at Vernon in the eye.

“Uh,” Vernon started. “So, why did you come here?”

“I don’t know I wasn’t thinking straight—no pun intended.”

Vernon chuckled, which made Seungkwan smile. “Alright, then, what are we doing now? Just staring at each other?”

Seungkwan frowned before turning back to look at the sky. “Sounds boring, let’s just look back at the sky.”

Vernon stared at seungkwan for a few more seconds before copying his actions and staring at the sky filled with stars. “Wow,” He gasped. Away from the city lights, the sky looked even more beautiful. It was the kind of dazzling beauty that’s difficult to explain in words.

“Is that a shooting star?” Seungkwan pointed to a non-existent shooting star. Clearly seungkwan was hallucinating a shooting star in place of an aeroplane, but vernon decided to just play along with it.

“Yeah, make a wish, kwan.”

Seungkwan closed his eyes and thought deeply about it. “Vern, do you think I should make it a general wish or a wish that I really want to make?”

“What on earth is a general wish?” Vernon questioned, his lips tugged upwards to form a smile.

“I’m broke and I have to buy albums. So nyeo shi dae is coming back next week and I still haven’t preordered their album. Should I wish for albums or money?”

Vernon laughed and move closer to seungkwan. He didn’t think through about his actions, he just felt that seungkwan was really warm and the night was freezing. Seungkwan’s thoughts are funny and cute, he thought. Smiling, Vernon asked, “So, what’s the other wish? The one you really want?”

“I want to see my mom, right now.”

Seungkwan kept a straight face. It wasn’t like he was crying or anything, he was just staring at the aeroplane which still hasn’t gone out of their sight.

Vernon wasn’t sure how to react, that went unexpectedly deep. He isn’t familiar with physical contact nor was he familiar with emotional comfort.

An awkward silence passed with just Vernon sweating profusely, tensed about what to do and Seungkwan staring at the sky. Seungkwan turned around to look at Vernon and was taken aback.

They were close, really close. Turning around, Seungkwan’s lips grazed over Vernon’s forehead. It somehow made Seungkwan a bit sober and Vernon felt even more awkward and just stared straight at Seungkwan chest which has the word sorry written on it.

For almost half a minute, they just stayed there in their awkward positions, quietly, not uttering a single word. It would’ve continued if it wasn’t for Vernon wrapping his arms around Seungkwan’s stomach all of a sudden.

“Vernon?”

“I can understand, Seungkwan,” Vernon said so softly that if seungkwan wasn’t just millimetres away from him, he wouldn’t have heard him. “My family lives far, sometimes my sister calls and it feels like, she’s growing up too fast? It’s scary but we have to get through this.”

Seungkwan kept mum for a few seconds, letting his words sink and then, he hugged vernon back, caressing his hair. “Oh, you were worried about that? It’s fine, I’m used to it, besides it’s nothing compared to our family, they’re living all the way in New York.”

“The distance doesn’t matter, the feelings does,” Vernon replied, he buried his face even deeper on Seungkwan’s chest. “I don’t want you to think that your feelings are nothing compared to mine.”

“Aww,” Seungkwan cooed. The earnest sound seungkwan made vernon too look up at him. His eyes were watery but he was smiling widely at vernon, still caressing his hair ever so gently. “You’re opening up to me already? I thought it’d take years. Alright, let’s just drop the matter then.”

“Yeah,” Vernon replied. “Let’s just stay like this for a while. It’s warm.”

Seungkwan silently agreed and closed his eyes; His hand stopped caressing vernon and instead fell back to the nape of vernon’s neck. Vernon nuzzled deeper into seungkwan’s chest and held him a little more tightly.

Vernon didn’t really know what exactly what he feeling. He just felt safe and secure under seungkwan’s hug. He didn’t think of anything else but boo seungkwan and slowly drifted away to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm really rushing this through. Tell me if I'm going to fast, and I'll try my best to slow down. ._.
> 
> I actually wanted seungkwan and vernon to have heart to heart conversation but it may be too soon, since it's only been a few weeks since they met, so I'm gonna stall in opening up completely. :')


	4. Therapeutic Teas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just about natural remedies and stuff, it's such a filler chapter, just skip this chapter. It's my nerd side oozing out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT CLAP'S CONCEPT IS SEVENTEEN? Like, wow. Mind blown.  
> After the clap era started, there's been a lot of verkwan, I'm so blessed.

Waking up to the sight of a policeman, with a cane on his hand poking you, is not exactly something anyone would want to wake up to.

That’s exactly how shocked Vernon and Seungkwan was when they saw a man poking his cane in between them.

“Are you both runaways?” The policeman asked. “Look, your parents might not approve of you two together but that doesn’t mean you have to spend the night at a park.”

They looked at each other and realised what the policeman would be assuming.

“Wait, no, we’re not together or anything—”

“Whatever you say young man, my coworker is gay and he does the same thing,” The policeman cut seungkwan off. “Now, off you go, get your asses home.”

Seungkwan immediately bowed and brushed off the dirt of his clothes. Meanwhile the policeman leaned in closer and whispered to Vernon, “Boy, aren’t you whipped? You’ve been spooning him all night long, it seems.”

Vernon smiled awkwardly, not knowing what exactly to reply. He could barely remember what happened last night. He wasn’t drunk, it was just that he’s feeling drowsy at the moment since he just woke up.

“Let’s go home,” Seungkwan said. “By the way, how did we end up at the park?”

“Good question,” Vernon replied, he could remember a thing or two but he wasn’t really in the mood to explain.

The walk back home was silent, mainly because seungkwan is experiencing a severe hangover. He’s lucky that he has his day off today or it’d be a struggle to survive a day at the university with a splitting headache.

“What are you looking for?” Vernon asked seungkwan, who was going through the shelves and clicking his tongue.

“Ginger tea,” Seungkwan answered. “But looks like, we’re out of them.”

“I can get them for you, if you want to,” Vernon replied.

“Nah, it’s fine, I got two teabags of chamomile left,” Seungkwan replied. He turned on the stove to boil water. “This will do for the hangover.”

Seungkwan gave him a smile, which somehow made vernon’s stomach churn. He was getting strange feelings and nostalgia of what happened last night.

_What happened, anyways?_

Vernon slowly remembered bits of the night where he nuzzled into seungkwan’s chest and stayed like that till morning. He also remembered how seungkwan caressed his hair.

The tips of Vernon’s ears turned red, which made Seungkwan to give him a weird look.

“Are you okay?” Seungkwan asked.

“Yeah, just tired,” Vernon replied. No, he wasn’t okay, he was feeling strange.

Seungkwan poured the hot water to a cup. “Is it the auditions? I know there are auditions and it’s quite hard to get into the hip-hop team.”

 _There are auditions?_ Vernon thought. It’s the first he has heard of them, but vernon decided to nod anyways. He just wanted to deviate the topic at hand.

Seungkwan gave him a longing look, before telling him,

_“Strip.”_

* * *

“You know, you could’ve just told me that you were going to make me take a bath with a bath additive,” Vernon tried to argue with Srungkwan who was busy boiling water over a valerian root. “I mean, who on earth would just tell someone to strip all of a sudden?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Seungkwan replied, clearly not caring about vernon’s argument. “I told you to get yourself ready, put on your bathrobe, this will be ready in a moment.”

“Seungkwan, you’re so weird.”

“Big surprise.”

Vernon chuckled. “How long is this going to take? I have some stuffs to do, so if this is gonna take a while—”

“Sixty minutes,” Seugnkwan cut him off. “I need to make sure that it steeps in properly.”

“It takes _an hour_?” Vernon replied, puzzled. “And you told me to get ready now, wow seungkwan.”

Seungkwan bit his lip, smiling slightly. Vernon did have a point, what was he thinking.

“Alright, you do your thing,” Seungkwan said, motioning him away. “I’ll call you when it’s over.”

Vernon smiled to himself at how weird seungkwan could be and walked over to his room, turning on his laptop. Seungkwan is really considerate, he thinks that vernon is feeling nervous and tensed for his audition which he hasn’t even applied to yet, and so decided to make a therapeutic bath for him to relax.

But just a few minutes after seungkwan shooed him off, vernon couldn’t help himself but get back into the kitchen. Whatever seungkwan was making is giving out such an alluring fragrance. Without uttering a word, he watched the entire time seungkwan singing and dancing around (despite having a headache, how does he do that?)

Before he knew it, sixty minutes were up.

“Woah there, you scared me,” Seungkwan yelled, at the sight of vernon who was standing by the door. “How long have you been there?”

“Since _I’m genie for you boy_ ,” Vernon replied, causing seungkwan to raise his eyebrows.

“That’s a while ago, boy,” Seungkwan commented. He strained off the plant parts from the water and gestured vernon to help him carry the pot to the bathroom.

They added the decoction to the warm bathwater and finally set the heater at a reasonable temperature.

“Now, get in,” Seungkwan told him. “Take your time, I’m gonna take a nap for a while.”

Vernon experienced the best bath he has ever had in his life. Relaxing, comforting, he has so many words to describe the feeling he’s experiencing at the moment. It was healing.

Seungkwan is such a sweet person, he thought. He wasn’t even feeling a little nervous yet seungkwan spent a lot of time making this and actually made vernon feel better.

He has to pay him back somehow.

* * *

Seungkwan had an exhausting day at work, so coming back home to the mouth-watering fragrance that hits seungkwan’s nose as soon as he reached the door was a pleasant surprise.

“Vernon, you’re _cooking_?” Seungkwan asked. “Wow, I thought you don’t know how to cook.”

“Hey, you’re back early,” Vernon answered. “And no, I don’t know how to cook, it’s just me trying.”

“What’s the occasion?” Seungkwan asked, as he plopped on the chair beside the dining table. He placed his bag down to the floor and stretched out his arms.

“Just think of it as returning the favour,” Vernon answered, as he placed the flavoured rice on seugnkwan’s plate. " _ **Bon Appétit**_ _.”_

Seungkwan scrunched his nose at vernon’s bizarre choice of words but decided to ignore them. Smiling, he took a spponful of rice and ate it. Almost immediately, he felt an itching sensation bothering him.

“Vernon…,” Seungkwan started, praying this isn’t what he think it is. “Did you put tomatoes in this?”

“Oh yeah,” Vernon answered, cheerfully. He kept smiling, waiting for further reaction from seungkwan. “It’s tomato rice, after all. Why? Do you hate tomatoes?”

Seungkwan sighed and grabbed a glass of water immediately. “I’m allergic to tomatoes.”

“What?” Vernon responded. “I’m, uh, I’m really sorry I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine,” Seungkwan laughed, ruffling vernon’s hair. “I just need to go to the bathroom real quick.”

Vernon didn’t say anything but just plopped down on seungkwan’s chair. Wow, so much for returning the favour, it’s almost as if he took revenge on seungkwan instead.

Seungkwan came back soon and looked through the shelves and took out another tea packet. Vernon read _Red raspberry tea_ on the packet.

“Seungkwan, actually eating onion helps the allergies to fade,” Vernon said, after a while.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Seungkwan replied. “I wanted to drink some tea anyway.”

It was a weird weekend, Vernon thought. So many things happened and he learnt a lot of new things about seungkwan.

If there’s something really fascinating about seungkwan, it’s the way how he has a keen interests in natural remedies. Seungkwan’s way of making teas and even bath additives is really satisfying to watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to vote and stream for our kings!
> 
> Uhh this chapter was so lame, like even more than usual, i think i was feeling out of it, or i was desperately waiting for fansites to drop the verkwan pictures from the fansigns already.
> 
> If anyone is interested to keep themselves updated with verkwan stuff, there's my twitter account @VerkwanPL feel free to check it out, I'm the most ratchet admin there, A.


	5. Audition and New Staff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> vernon auditions for the hht
> 
> wonwoo gets a new staff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i haven't updated over a month, i'm surprised people actually read this lame story but oh well

Vernon finds himself opening up to Seungkwan a _lot_ these days, which is quite surprising considering that he usually keeps himself reserved and distant from people.

Seungkwan is probably the only exception. He is such a warm and kind person that he finds himself getting attached to him without even realising.

While he was still contemplating which club activity to go for, Seungkwan dragged him off to the hip hop club’s audition. A part of him is glad that Seungkwan gave him the push in the right direction but a part of him doesn’t really want to be there in the hall.

Imagine being stuck in a hall with hundreds of teenagers covered with gold rings, some shiny chains hung around their neck or pierced ears and nose. Vernon looked like the most average person there with just a tshirt and jeans. He lowkey felt quite intimidated by all these _swaggers_ surrounding him.

Thankfully, one of the judging panels is a familiar face.

“Woah, Vernon-ah!” Mingyu exclaimed, his eyebrows rising up in pleasant surprise to find Vernon auditioning. “I never knew you’d rap, so what song will you perform today?”

Vernon awkwardly nodded and grabbed the mike in front of him. He wasn’t really sure whether to copy the cool and swag upfront like how every other people that auditioned did. Seeing that Vernon was looking really awkward and nervous, Mingyu gestured him to breathe properly. After a few deep breaths, Vernon hit it off with a Drake hit.

At first, it was really shaky.

He could hear his voice quivering and spluttering out the wrong lyrics. He tensed up when he completely missed the beat at the start. He knew he has messed up really bad in the beginning but looking at the panel’s expression, they showed no disappointment which encouraged Vernon to go on.

In the middle of the song, he suddenly remembered Seungkwan’s advices about overcoming stage fright. It’s best to smile and act really confident which would then eventually give him overflowing confidence. He also remembered how Seungkwan said conveying your emotions and maintaining eye contact with the audience is equally as important as showing your confidence.

His eyes skimmed through the audience, when the instrumental started. He had to continue rapping soon but his eyes were fixed on the audience which felt like he was looking at nothing but just pitch black darkness. Looking at the audience maybe wasn’t such a good idea after all.

His nerves are acting up.

Vernon bit his lip and smiled, swaying his head back and forth trying to lose himself in the instrumentals instead of thinking of the eyes boring onto him. But it wasn’t helping. He gulped down nervously, anxiety kicking in…until the audience started clapping.

His eyes darted towards a familiar glowing face, smiling at him with pride, cheering him on and clapping so loudly. He initiated the clapping which made the entire hall join in and clap along with him to the beat.

Vernon felt calm.

The instrumental ended just in time for him to continue his rap and he cleanly finished, with no nerves attacking him this time. Grinning at the audience, with his bangs all messed up from all the grooving with rhythm, he bowed down to the judges first and then to the audience. Seungkwan whistled at him, which somehow made Vernon shy.

The judges were silent and simply stared at him with their mouths opened wide. It was Donghyuk that spoke up first.

“Vernon, I’ll remember your name forever,” He firstly commented. “Overlooking your nervousness, it felt like a professional performance to me. Is this your first time performing?”

The crescents of his cheeks were still high up, forming crinkles by his eyes. Vernon feels even shyer now. “Yes sunbae, thank you very much.”

“Vernon..that’s a really cool name, bro!” Junhoe exclaimed. “I felt like jumping onto the stage and bopping along with you. You’re really cool! Hands down, we are going to attract a lot of audience if you’re in!”

It was Mingyu’s turn to speak. Vernon felt more at ease seeing that his friend is smiling at him, looking very pride. “This guy here is my best friend everyone, and if you all think I’m biased in recruiting him. I won’t put a vote but instead the judging panel can vote without me.”

The other judges lightly smacked him in the head. “You’re being way too dramatic. Everyone saw how much talent and potential he has, no one is going to assume you’re biased.”

Mingyu slightly pouted and rubbed his head.

Yebin decided to ignore the boys who were bickering at each other ignoring the poor kid waiting for his result. She took the mike coolly and explained, “No one commented on your style. The reason I want to recruit him is because of his skills and his rapping style. You have a distinct style that sets you apart from other performers, and I think that’s what you need to shine on the stage the most. Vernon-ssi, welcome to our club.”

Cue the huge round of applause.

It was only an audition and it’s not as if it was an audition for a survival show or something of that sort. It was just an audition for their university club, yet for Vernon this was such a huge accomplishment.

Vernon walked down the stage and immediately got tackled by Seungkwan. Seungkwan was jumping around and hugging him tightly at the same time.

“I told you that you’re gonna ace it!” Seungkwan chirped. “I am _so_ proud of you, kiddo.” He exaggeratedly wiped a non-existent tear from his eyes.

“Kwan,” Vernon started. A part of him wants to jump along but he could feel the stares on him. Some of them looked as if they wanted to roast him alive while others admired him in awe. “You’re too excited, this is just a university club…and I’m not a kid.”

Seungkwan stopped prancing around and instead looked at him straight in the eye. Making a face, he slapped Vernon’s right shoulder. “Bitch _please_. There are like thousands of people that tries to get in every semester but they are accepting only a few like five. Do you get it? It means you’re special. You are amazing, Mr. Chwe.” Seungkwan added, “Besides, you’re younger than me, which means you’re a kid, alright?”

Vernon smiled warmly. “It’s all because of you, I’ll treat you to anything you like today.” Chuckling, he added, “We are literally just a month apart, but alright, whatever you say princess.”

“I didn’t do it for you to owe me one,” Seungkwan replied. “And, why the fuck are you calling me princess? I’m a _guy_ , brickhead.”

“Brickhead?” Vernon retorted. “Well, anyways that was a slip of the tongue. I meant to call you prince, prince.”

Seungkwan narrowed his eyes at Vernon before shrugging it off. “Well, anyways let’s get out of here,” Seungkwan suggested. “I can feel Mingyu hyung’s eyes on me, we’re probably making too much noise.”

Vernon glanced towards the judging panel and made an amused face. “Wow, he actually _is_ staring at you…How did you know he’s looking at you though?”

“He always does that,” Seungkwan answered. “Okay, let’s get away from here…before Yebin announce it on the mike for us to leave.”

Somehow trying to tiptoe and noiselessly exiting the auditorium (key word: try), they finally got out to the corridors. Seungkwan and Vernon shared a look before bursting out in laughters.

“Alright, come on,” Seungkwan said. “We need to stop making so much noise.”

* * *

“Seungkwan-ah!” Wonwoo called out. “Come out here!”

Seungkwan stopped watering the dandelions at the back of the shop and shouted back. “I’m coming, hold on!”

Rushing to the cashier’s desk, he noticed another young lady standing beside Wonwoo. Smiling at the lady and greeting her, he turned back to Wonwoo to ask, “Whatcha’ want?”

“This is Xiyeon,” Wonwoo introduced the pretty girl. “She will be helping out starting tomorrow.”

“Oh, wow, another staff!” Seungkwan exclaimed. “Hello there, I am Boo Seungkwan, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Xiyeon returned, smiling. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, why is the shop’s name Wonwoo’s herbs and stuffs? Is that a temporary name or…?”

“Wonwoo here thought the name was just splendid for the shop,” Seungkwan explained. “But let’s ignore that lame name. I gave him a list of names to rename the shop the other day, the names I suggested is _waaaaayy_ better than Wonwoo’s herbs and stuffs.”

“Can I see the list?” Xiyeon asked. “I mean, if I were to work at a place, that place should at least better have a good name.”

Wonwoo frowned at her comment while Seungkwan smirked. “I like her already,” Seungkwan informed to which Wonwoo frowned even further.

“Am I going to regret hiring _again_?” Wonwoo murmured as he opened the drawers to get a notepad. He passed the notepad to Xiyeon. Seungkwan leaned in closer to see his list.

“Wow, you crossed out a lot of my amazing names,” Seungkwan sneered. “You’re just jealous at my creativity.”

“I like this one,” Xiyeon pointed at one of the names that Wonwoo didn’t cross out.

Wonwoo nodded. “I was actually impressed by that one. I honestly liked that one. I’m surprised Seungkwan could come up with something that good.”

“Hey!” Seungkwan pouted. “Also, that’s one of my top choices. We should start replacing the front sign then if we’re renaming the name of the shop to this one.”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo replied. “Let’s get the things ready. I’ll bring all the paint I have tomorrow, I can probably borrow some from Changkyun. We will start renovating the front tomorrow then.”

Seungkwan nodded, excited to rename the shop to something that’s actually good. He glanced at the name that was now circled with a tick beside, and smiled.

 _Smile Flower._ That’s a nice name for a flower shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ye, that was short man
> 
> cheers to ally for the name ~


End file.
